Highlanders prop Kees Meeuws is unlikely to be fit for the Super 12 rugby semifinal against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday.
Meeuws took little part in the team's training session yesterday, only jogging lightly, with his left leg strapped, before he left the session.
He strained his hamstring at the back of the knee against the Waratahs in Sydney last Friday night, and coach Peter Sloane was pessimistic about his chances of playing on Saturday.
"Kees is not looking good at all, really," he said. "It's just one of those things but he'll be pretty lucky to make it."
An x-ray cleared first five-eighths Tony Brown of any major damage to his left eye socket and Byron Kelleher, whose hamstring tightened in Sydney, came through practice satisfactorily.
"We're not too badly off," Sloane said. "The sleep patterns have returned to normal in the past 24 hours [after trips to South Africa and Australia] and at this stage of the competition it's more mental than anything."
The team had an intensive video analysis session yesterday which pinpointed their shortcomings of recent weeks.
"You always learn off it," Sloane said. "But it's how good you are at correcting your mistakes and exploiting the opposition."
In Christchurch, not all went well at the Crusaders' penultimate training session.
"It was a far from perfect run," coach Robbie Deans said after his team's closed practice. "But then we were dealing with some strategies that were slightly new."
Meanwhile, the Brumbies will have to do without captain Brett Robinson for their semifinal against the Cats in Canberra.
Flanker Robinson had hoped to return from injury for the match, but yesterday conceded he would not be able to.
He has failed to recover from a chest muscle injury he sustained against the Chiefs in Hamilton on April 29.
Coach Eddie Jones said Robinson's loss was a blow.
"The medical advice was that there was a chance of reinjury. He's not fit to play this week, which is a big disappointment."
Halfback George Gregan has captained the Brumbies in recent weeks in Robinson's absence and will do so again against the Cats.
- NZPA
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